The event is scheduled from February 26 to March 8 with a line-up of events that focuses on arts, performances, education and service projects in various historic venues in Kumasi, Cape Coast and Accra.

A release issued to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday said the festival’s mission was to connect people of African descent with the culture and traditions of Africa. It would feature performances from artists traveling from the US including The CrossRhodes, a duo comprised of R&B/Soul Sensation Raheem Devaughn and hip-hop emcee Wes Felton and Farafina Kan: The Sound Africa – an intergenerational West African Drum and dance company.

“The Back2Africa Festival and Tour is important particularly as it truly represents the spirit of the Year of Return. We are a family and community on a birth right journey returning to make connections. It’s the first time to Ghana and the African continent for the majority of our group of nearly 100 travellers aged between 6 - 65 years old who are coming to enjoy Ghana and also to learn, share and exchange their talents, perspectives and energy with Ghanaian people,”

The release said the festival would be launched in Accra with a press reception and a transformation of the Accra Tourist Information Center into the Akwaaba Village, a festive communal ground highlighting live-performances, presentations, local vendors and African installations to welcome the diasporan community.

The Akwaaba Village would be followed by a special Back2Africa edition of JustMusic hosted by the Accra Unplugged Team x Back2Africa at Django Bar/ Rockstone’s office on the February 27, with an intimate live performance featuring Raheem Devaughn & Wes Felton of the CrossRhodes and a special classic hip, R&B and Soul DJ set by DJ Face, it said.

A cross-cultural open Mic/Jam session in partnership with the African American Association of Ghana (AAAG) featuring artists from Ghana and the US will be held at the Rehab Beach Club on February 28, it said.

The release said the festival would continue on March 1, with the Birthright Annual Concert, a family-oriented concert celebrating the African cultural legacy through traditional and modern African drum, dance and theatre at the National Theatre featuring live performances from Farafina Kan (Washington DC), CrossRhodes (Washington DC), youth performers from Ghana International School and GIS Performers from Ghana.

It said that the Birthright Annual Concert has been held in Washington, DC for the past five years and this would be its first annual instalment in Ghana. On March 3, the diasporan community and attendees would travel to Cape Coast for the Cape Coast Concert and African Ancestry Reveal where a celebratory performance will be held at the Cape Coast Castle to celebrate the resilience and power of African.

“People and families travelling with the Back2Africa tour team who have taken the African Ancestry DNA test will have their ancestry revealed by Dr Gina Paige, President and co-founder of African Ancestry.”The Back2Africa Festival and Tour will end with a charity cause, Akuapem Educational Service  Partnership, at Nyame Bekyre School at Akuapem on March 7.

“Working with the International Partnership for Economic and Sustainable Development led by Courtney Bennett, the group will kickstart the fundraiser to raise funds and break grounds for the establishment of a library and borehole in the community.”

“The Back2Africa is one way we are committed to looking at ways to rebuild the connections between Africa and her diaspora ---culturally, spiritually and financially”. The Back2Africa Festival and Tour began in 2018 and is part of events scheduled for the “Year of Return”, a year - long calendar of activities in “celebration of the resilience of the African spirit” coordinated by Ghana Tourism Authority, under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

Back2Africa festival partners include the Ghana Tourism Authority, South African Airways, SunSeekers Tour, WaxPrint Media, African American Association of Ghana (AAAG), Ghana International School (GIS), and African Ancestry.